One
of the important themes in science and social studies is that science change
with respect to society and society changes with respect to science.Agriculture is just one of the many things
that is part of this science/society interactions that cycle continuously.One such example is the fact that as a result
in advances in science yields and production have become greater, and as a result
less farmers are needed to produce the same amount of food and the number of
people associated with agriculture has decreased overall.On the other hand, as the population
continues to increase and the number of people producing their own food decreases,
the demand for food increases.

This
website provides you with a means of entering such a complex system of
interactions between science and society.The site will provide you with color-coded maps and data tables that
represent recent agricultural and societal changes in the state of
Michigan.Your task is to:

Analyze
the website and find at least one interesting observation that you make from
its contents

Ask
questions/identify several science and societal factors that may interact with
and cause your observation to occur

Investigate
the questions and factors that you have brainstormed, being sure to research
any other leads and questions you may encounter along the way

Write
a report in which you:

Identify your observation -
justify and describe how it was made

Explain all of the questions
and factors that you investigated and report what you found about each

Provide a conclusion that
summarizes your observation and the factors that you found cause the occurrence
of your observation.Give a brief
justification of each.

Example:

My Observation:

In
looking through the website I notice that the number of acres that plant at
least 500 acres of barley drops after 1995 and in addition, the production of
barley seems to be very minimal compared to the production of other crops
throughout MI.

My Questions/factors
investigated:

·Why
did the number of counties growing at least 500 acres of barley drop after
1995?

oDid a disease develop in the
soil throughout MI?

oDid a natural pest to barley
invade the state?

oDid a natural disaster occur
or whether patterns change?

oDid the farm price markets
change?

·Why
is there so little barley produced in the state of MI?

oWhat is barley used for?

oWhat is the level of demand
for barley?

oWho influences the demand
for barley?

·Any
other questions or factors I encounter during my research and investigation.

All data has been published by the Michigan Department of Agriculture and is available on the web at http://www.mda.state.mi.us/mass/index.html
. Documents used in the production of this lesson were:*Michigan Agriculture Statistics Bulletins dated years 95-96, 96-97, 97-98, & 98-99*Michigan County Agricultural Statistics 1996